Trendy cuisine is the raison d'etre in Sonoma, but these days some activists want to halt what is served at white-linen restaurants.

A petition signed by about 500 people will be presented tonight to the Sonoma City Council, asking for a ban on the sale of foie gras -- fattened goose or duck liver -- anywhere inside the city limits.

Animal-rights activists call foie gras the "delicacy of despair," claiming that the fowl suffer horribly from the forced feedings that swell the livers to 12 times the normal size just days before slaughter. They hope their non-binding petition will enlighten Sonoma residents about how foie gras is made.

"Due to national media coverage of the inherent suffering involved in foie gras, Sonoma has become synonymous with animal cruelty," reads the petition. "I urge you to support an ordinance banning the sale of foie gras in the town of Sonoma. Doing so would restore Sonoma's image as well as promote the humane treatment of animals in our society."

Foie gras has become a flashpoint in the Sonoma Valley, where organic and hormone-free food and the conditions under which animals are raised have long been part of the food culture. The French delicacy already has prompted two lawsuits and thousands of dollars in vandalism.

A cultural icon to French chefs, foie gras has been popularized in the past two decades by American chefs. Gascony native Laurent Manrique, the executive chef at Aqua in San Francisco, has for months been trying to open a Sonoma restaurant and store featuring foie gras and other duck products. He says the store's opening has been delayed by permit problems and vandalism.

Manrique is perplexed by activists who try to limit menu choices.

"It is unusual because we are serving what the customer demands," he said.

"I'm not imposing on my customer what they are going to eat -- I cook what they request."

"I'm unaware of a foie-gras-free zone in our development code," said Larry Barnett, one council member. "But the bigger implication is this -- if the City Council wants to pass legislation pertaining to what products can or cannot be sold, then what is next?"

Two foie gras farms exist in the United States -- one is Sonoma Foie Gras near Stockton, which is owned by a Sonoma couple, Guillermo Gonzalez, 51, and his wife, Junny. The other is in New York state's Hudson Valley.

Four ducks were taken from the flock of 20,000 at Gonzalez's farm in mid- September. Sonoma Foie Gras sued the four activists who admitted to the break- in, accusing them of trespassing. Two days later, a pair of Bay Area animal- rights groups pushing for a statewide ban on the production of foie gras sued Gonzalez and the foie gras farm in Sonoma County Superior Court, arguing it was breaking state laws against animal cruelty. Gonzalez will attend today's meeting and defend his farm and Sonoma Saveurs -- the specialty food and wine shop he plans to open with Manrique as soon as the hearing is over.

The shop on Sonoma's historic plaza was vandalized in August. Sonoma police, working with the FBI, called the vandalism "domestic terrorism" that resulted in more than $50,000 in damage. Manrique, 37, and Didier Jaubert, 46, also were targeted. In July, vandals spray painted slogans on their homes and poured acid on their cars. Activists left another calling card: a videotape of Manrique's family relaxing in his Mill Valley living room, with a threatening note.

Gonzalez has begun his own campaign, directed at the City Council. His Nov. 12 letter to city residents says, "If the extremists prevail, they will be taking a big step toward their ultimate goal of a vegan society."

Other Sonoma restaurants that serve foie gras have seen much-less- venomous direct action from animal-rights advocates.

City Councilman Ken Brown said protesters this month had picketed the Ledson Hotel, which serves foie gras. That type of nonviolent action is "acceptable," he said, but vandalism and threats are not.

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Activists take pains to distance themselves from the vandalism, saying those extreme tactics backfire.

"I think the petition is an important way to help stop this perverse cruelty to animals," said Dr. Elliot Katz of In Defense of Animals in Mill Valley.

Decrying the elitism of connoisseurs of foie gras, which retails for $20 to $35 a quarter pound, the animal-rights activists hope to shut down the U.S. industry. A ban on sales of foie gras could eventually spread to all of California, said Bryan Pease of the Animal Protection and Rescue League in San Francisco, who also is one of the activists who broke into the farm to take the ducks. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans to start a Sonoma County campaign to discourage local restaurants from serving foie gras, said spokesperson Cem Akins. At PETA's urging, Williams-Sonoma, the upscale purveyor of cooking paraphernalia and foodstuffs, quit selling foie gras in catalogs in 2001, and last summer the Boston Symphony Orchestra dropped foie gras from the Tanglewood Wine and Food Classic.

Robert Julian, a San Francisco lawyer who represents Sonoma Saveurs and Sonoma Foie Gras, questions the seriousness of the Sonoma petition.

"People have a right to petition their government, but why is this petition to ban the sale of foie gras being submitted in Sonoma instead of one of the other 475 cities in California? The answer has to do solely with the fact that Mr. Gonzalez lives in Sonoma," he said.